SAS to offer educational software to teachers at no cost

By eSchool News

December 19th, 2008

Jim Goodnight, co-founder of SAS and a strong advocate of education, is committing more money and resources to help boost classroom learning, reports WRAL of Raleigh, N.C. At a speech Dec. 12, Goodnight disclosed that SAS is making available free of charge its "SAS Curriculum Pathways" educational software package. Addressing members of the North Carolina General Assembly’s Joint Legislative Technology Committee at N.C. State University, Goodnight said SAS made the decision in an effort to improve education. "Shrinking budgets and pricing structures should not stand in the way of America’s students receiving education technology that will engage them and better prepare them for today’s workforce," Goodnight said. An SAS spokesperson said Curriculum Pathways was generating $1.3 million a year in revenue. Once current contracts expire, users will no longer pay to use the software, the spokesperson said. In his speech, Goodnight said Curriculum Pathways provides educators with tools to help excite children about learning. "Today’s students communicate, learn, and interact with the world through technology, yet we ask them to leave that behind when they enter a classroom," he said. "Education has not changed, but this generation of kids has. They are bored and they are dropping out. Online education is one way we can begin to adapt our educational systems to their needs." SAS has spent more than a decade developing and supporting Curriculum Pathways. Thousands of teachers across 30 states reportedly use it…